Well 24/9-8 on the Lie prospect in PL305 was spudded on 18 July. This was the first well operated by Det Norske Oljeselskap ASA on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and thus represents an important milestone for the company. Well 24/9-8 was drilled into the reservoir section to TD at 2,165m below sea level. Hydrocarbons were not encountered and the well was plugged and abandoned. Through a transaction reported 19 January 2006, all well related costs for the company’s share will be paid by PA Resources.
This was the first well to be drilled by the Bredford Dolphin rig in the three year drilling contract the company and six other operators in a consortium have with Dolphin. The rig will drill one well for another operator prior to returning to Det Norske Oljeselskap ASA to drill well 24/12-5S; the Thorkildsen prospect in PL341. The company’s share of the well related costs for the Thorkildsen well will also be paid by PA Resources.
In PL265 (operated by StatoilHydro) the Ragnarrock well 16/2-3 was spudded 1 August and drilled to a TD of 1,856m below sea level. The well was drilled with the West Epsilon rig and the well was cored, logged and tested with multiple mini-DST’s prior to being plugged and abandoned. The main purpose of the well was to prove the presence of moveable oil within a low productivity chalk reservoir. Based upon the positive well results the PL265 license partners decided to move the West Epsilon rig and drill the 16/2-4 appraisal well immediately. The water depth in the area is 113 metres.
In June, DNO launched a new growth strategy in Norway, where the mission was to build the largest independent Norwegian exploration and production company. On 8 October 2007 the company entered into an Integration Agreement with Pertra ASA and DNO ASA. The main purpose of the agreement is to join the activities of Pertra ASA and Det Norske Oljeselskap ASA into one major privately owned Norwegian exploration and production company, called Det norske oljeselskap ASA.
The combined company will become Norway’s second largest operator. The combination of the two companies is part of the strategy to establish a mid-cap operating company creating shareholder value. The company will operate 17 licenses offshore Norway and will operate 20 exploration wells over the next three years.
In the parties’ shareholders meetings on 8 November the respective Boards’ decisions to enter into the Integration Agreement of 8 October were approved.
At the Goliat field, conceptual and field evaluation studies are taking place related to development of the field. Selection of main development concept is scheduled for December this year.
The production from Glitne was in line with plan in the third quarter. Drilling of the new infill well has been completed and the plan is to bring this well on stream towards the end of November this year.
Production from the Enoch field started at the end of May. The current production is around 9,000 bopd - whereof Det Norske Oljeselskap ASA has a 2 % working interest share.
The operating revenues in the third quarter were NOK 60,1 million (NOK 43,9 million) and in the first nine months NOK 142,9 million (NOK 146,5 million). The operating result showed a loss of NOK 20,9 million (NOK 24,6 million) and in the first nine months NOK 46,7 million (NOK 87,2 million). The net profit was in the third quarter NOK 15,8 million versus a loss of NOK 2 million in the same period last year, while the profit in the first nine months was NOK
53,4 million (NOK -27,3 milllion).
